This workshop will provide participants with a better understanding of the evolving role of non-tariff measures (NTMs) in international trade. Some of the topics addressed are: How NTMs affect the policy space  to pursue social and economic development? Next, what are the methods for assessing the impacts of NTMs? How to use R and World bank's SMART modeling tool to analyze impact of NTMs on trade and trade costs? The workshop will present a number of case studies that analyse the implications of various forms of NTMs for developing countries’ trade.

We are calling for the applications from both researchers and policymakers with some experience in this area. Seats are limited and limited support is prioritized for the qualified candidates from ARTNeT institutional members or Government focal points. Please see more information and instructions for applications here. Kindly note that the deadline for applications will be strictly observed. If more information is needed, please contact artnetontrade@un.org

In India, most of the investments in the service sector are made in the form of private equity (PE), with the e-commerce segment being the largest receiver. Altough this has allowed the sector to grow, it does not favour the interests of young start-ups, as PE investors merely seek for short-term profit opportunities. After acquiring stakes in newly established companies, PE firms re-sell them after short time with premium rates. Despite being harmful, this remains the easiest option available for start-ups to access funds: receiving loans from banks is difficult, especially due to their lack of collaterals. In this situation, the Indian Government is taking steps forward to protect and encourage entrepreneurship by providing funds to allow the growth of start-ups. Yet, there is still room for new policies to allow the sustainable growth of newly-established companies without the need of turning to private equity financing.

For the full publication by Rahul Choudhury please visit here. 

By covering topics of Political economy of regional integration (Dr. Rajan Ratna) and Services trade and negotiations (Dr. Mia Mikic), ARTNeT secretariat contributed to  a delivery of the master of Arts in Asia -Pacific Studies Program (MAPS) this year. This generation of students comes from six ASEAN countries, Bhutan and Japan. Thammasat Institute for Study of International Cooperation – an ARTNeT institutional member since 2014 is the home of this master’s programme. The programme adopts multidisciplinary approaches to give students an understanding of contemporary regional issues; allows participants to integrate study of business, economics, politics and law; and prepares and trains graduates for careers in the public sector, diplomatic service, academic and research institutions, consultancies, and international organizations. The MAPS is now open for application for 2018-2019. The deadline is 8 June 2018. For more information please visit the website.

Are you associated with an university and interested in joining ARTNeT for more cooperation in trade research and training? Find our membership guideline here.

Congratulations to our partner CUTS International! CUTS has opened its sixth overseas centre in Washington DC, becoming the first Indian think-tank to have its centre in the United States.

For more information about this news please visit here. 

The East Asian Economic Review is an economic journal for the promotion of interdisciplinary research on international economics. Published as a quarterly by the our member Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), a Korean government-funded economic think-tank, the Journal is global in perspective and covers both theory and empirical research. The Journal is now encouraging submissions from across the field of Economics in order to facilitate greater understanding of all issues pertinent to the diverse economies of East Asia, through publication of rigorous analyses by renowned experts in the field. 

For the latest issue (Volume 22 Number 1 March 2018) please visit here. For the details of submission please visit here. 

This conference held by our member Centre for WTO studies (CWS) offers a podium for scholarly conversation among academia and policymakers on the impact of trade policy issues on Indian agriculture. Papers - theoretical, empirical or case study - are invited. 

For more information please visit here. 

The Econometric Research in Finance (ERFIN) workshop will be hosted by Warsaw School of Economics (Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie) in Warsaw, Poland, on 14 September 2018. 

The goal of the ERFIN workshops is to promote modern quantitative methods (especially econometric models) and their applications in the field of finance. The organiser invites high quality, original theoretical/applied empirical papers from faculty members, research scholars, and industry practitioners—both junior and senior researchers are encouraged to present their work. The organiser also invites submissions to the academic journal, Econometric Research in Finance (ERFIN).

For more information please visit here. 

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) will be organizing its Sixth Conference on Empirical Issues in International Trade & Finance (EIITF) on 13-14 December 2018 at its Delhi Campus, India. The Conference would facilitate exchange of ideas among renowned scholars from India and abroad.

The theme for this year's EIITF Conference is “Technology Disruptions, Global Capital Flows and International Trade-Drivers for Economic Development” Any unpublished empirical paper on international economics and finance (Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: E, F and G) is solicited. To encourage young researchers who are currently pursuing PhD in the area of international trade and finance a separate track is added in the Conference. The best paper from the Doctoral Students will also be awarded cash prize and a certificate.

For more information please visit here. 

PEP is looking for a qualified Senior Program Officer to support program management, project development and capacity building activities at the global level, based at the PEP Global Secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya. 

For more information please visit here. 

Our member Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has published a series of policy briefs in related to Bangladesh's graduation from Least developed country (LDC). The six policy briefs discuss about the trends, opportunities, challenges and strategies of the graduation. You can find the briefs with the links below:

• Bangladesh Becoming a Middle-Income Country, Ceasing to be a Least Developed Country: Clarifying Confusion (Link)
• Learning from the Past, Preparing for the Future: What Bangladesh Needs to Know (Link)
• ‘Business as Usual’ Trend of Structural Transformation: Can this Ensure Graduation with Momentum? (Link)
• Strategy towards Bangladesh’s Sustainable LDC Graduation (Link)
• Bangladesh’s Pursuit of the 2030 Agenda: Will It Facilitate Smooth Transition after LDC Graduation? (Link)
• An LDC Graduation Strategy to Navigate Bangladesh in Inhospitable Global and Regional Environment (Link)

Christopher Tremewan, Secretary General of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), an ARTNeT associate partner, is coming to ESCAP 74th Commission to share their experience in "High-level debate on frontier technological innovations - policies to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals" on 16 May 2018.

APRU's current projects, “AI for everyone: benefitting from and building trust in the technology” and Project DARE - Data science and Analytics Raising Employment, are seeking to maximize AI-tech’s potential for an equitable future and to bridge the looming skills gap in Data Science & Analytics. As APRU is developing collaboration with ARTNeT, we look forward to listening and discussing with Dr. Tremewan for more cooperation in the future!

During the past year some of America’s trading partners have sought to rein in Washington’s unilateral protectionist instincts by framing the woes of the trading system in terms of global excess capacity—essentially diplomatic code for Chinese excess capacity in manufactures. The joint EU, Japanese, and US statement pledging cooperation on such matters at last December’s WTO Ministerial Conference was an important milestone in this co-option strategy. In light of the threatened imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminium products on widely-derided national security grounds, this report by Global Trade Alert (GTA) examines whether America’s trading partners should double down on this particular strategy.

GTA was an independent trade policy monitoring initiative and has become a widely-used input for analysis and decision-making by various actors. GTA has been a supporting partner of ARTNeT since its establishment. This latest GTA Report, co-authored by Prof. Simon Evenett of St. Gallen University and an adviser of ARTNeT, can be found here. 

The Digital Trade Restrictiveness Index (DTRI) measures how countries in the world restrict digital trade. The DTRI is based on a wide spectrum of digital trade policies covering more than 100 policy measures across 64 countries worldwide. The index is the first global initiative to provide transparency of applied digital trade restrictions and sheds light on how countries compare with each other. The index is based on the Digital Trade Estimates (DTE), a database that ECIPE has developed and that is freely available for anyone to use.

For the full report please visit here. 

Many congratulations to ARTNeT advisor, Prof. Simon Evenett, who has been honored with the Impact Award of the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland 2018 for the Global Trade Alert project that he coordinates. The University of St.Gallen established this Award in 2018 to make the societal impact of its research more visible. A maximum of three researchers from any field within the University are honored for a project that has clearly demonstrated impact in practice.

The Global Trade Alert, an ARTNeT associate partner, is the leading independent monitor of commercial policy change in the Asia-Pacific region and globally. The findings of the Global Trade Alert are referred to frequently by policymakers, journalists, scholars, and analysts.

Martina Francesca Ferracane, an former ARTNeT research assistant and worked with ARTNeT secretariat on the number of publications, is now listed in the Forbes 30Under30 list for healthcare for Europe. She co-founded and manages Oral3D, a startup that enables dentists to create 3D printed models of a patient's mouth in less than one hour, making surgery more predictable and communication with patients easier. 

Many congratuations to Martina and ARTNeT would like to hear from our members and partners - please keep in touch and share us your achievements!

Have you liked/ followed/ linked with us on social media? Connecting with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn allows you get the latest news sooner and share the news with friends easier!  

The ARTNeT Secretariat welcomes submissions of policy briefs, working papers, book reports, research reports, and book reviews by ARTNeT members, partners and collaborators. For any submission to be considered, the editorial 'Guidelines for Submissions to the ARTNeT Working Papers Series' must be adhered to.

If you are an ARTNeT member, partner or collaborator and would like to publicise your publications, research or events in the next newsletter, please e-mail us at artnetontrade@un.org.